It’s midnight. A call was made to Malaysia’s Fire and Rescue Department about a forest fire in Tanjung Bungah, Penang.

Firefighters rushed to the scene only to discover there was no such blaze.

the department gets a prank call every other day. Many of these calls are usually made about an hour before or after midnight.

Its exasperated director general Nor Hisham Mohammad is now calling for a multiprong approach to deal with the problem.

“There should be stricter enforcement, use of technological...